Notice of Special Interest (NOSI): Modeling Social Contagion of Substance Use Epidemics NOT-DA-20-009

Key Dates

Related Announcements

• PA-19-056: NIH Research Project Grant (Parent R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
• PA-19-055: NIH Research Project Grant (Parent R01 Clinical Trial Required
• PA-19-091 NIH Research Project Grant (Parent R01 Basic Experimental Studies with Humans Required)
• PA-19-052: NIH Small Research Grant Program (Parent R03 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
• PA-19-092: NIH Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Program (Parent R21 Basic Experimental Studies with Humans Required)
• PA-19-053: NIH Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Program (Parent R21 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
• PA-19-054: NIH Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Program (Parent R21 Clinical Trial Required)

Issued by

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

Purpose

The purpose of this Notice is to inform potential applicants to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) of special interest in research projects involving the application of social network theory to study the social contagion of behaviors associated with substance use disorders that can provide insight into the prediction and prevention of the contagion of substance use epidemics. Applications should make use of large data sets and data science approaches to develop computational models of social networks to examine the association between social influence and substance use/misuse among individuals and their peers.

Background

Social contagion is the spread of affect or behavior from person to person and among larger groups. Social network theory (the study of how people, organizations, or groups interact with others inside their network) and its analysis have been a recent focus for public health issues. Although it has been primarily used to analyze and predict the transmission of infectious diseases, social network theory can also be applied to chronic behavioral conditions, including substance use disorders, as social factors and their interactions with age and sex are important determinants of substance use.

Research Objectives

NIDA is interested in projects that leverage big data sets and utilize machine learning algorithms to gain new knowledge related to the behaviors associated with substance use disorders and that will facilitate the prediction, prevention and response to epidemics of substance use disorders. Analyses should involve large datasets and data science approaches to develop computational models of social networks to examine how substance use/misuse and peer use/misuse is propagated among social networks.

Areas of programmatic interest to NIDA include, but are not limited to:

• Whether the next epidemic of substance use disorders/secular trends in substance use behaviors can be predicted with social network analysis (e.g., the crack epidemic of the 1990s and the current opioid epidemic)
• How social networks can be used to prevent epidemics related to or caused by substance use behaviors
• How social networks impact substance use, misuse, and recovery processes
• New or adapted interventions that leverage social networks to prevent substance use, misuse or support recovery processes
• Relationships between “in real life” and virtual social networks in influencing substance use behaviors and recovery
• Examination of multigenerational social network models that incorporate families and family structures as vectors of social influence, including effects of familial substance use behaviors
• The effects of peer substance use/misuse on individuals within their social network
• The influences of interpersonal networks and mass media on substance use, misuse, and recovery
• How network structures (e.g., the strength of ties) influence substance use, misuse, and recovery
• The role that social media plays in influencing substance use, misuse, and recovery
• How changes in social network composition and structure influence recovery processes
• Examination of how social network structure and composition among service providers (e.g., behavioral health providers, police, physicians) influence substance use behavior and recovery outcomes for people receiving services

Application and Submission Information:

This notice applies to due dates on or after date and subsequent receipt dates through January 8, 2023.

Submit applications for this initiative using one of the following funding opportunity announcements (FOAs) or any reissues of these announcements through the expiration date of this notice.

• PA-19-056: NIH Research Project Grant (Parent R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
• PA-19-055: NIH Research Project Grant (Parent R01 Clinical Trial Required)
• PA-19-091: NIH Research Project Grant (Parent R01 Basic Experimental Studies with Humans Required)
• PA-19-052: NIH Small Research Grant Program (Parent R03 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
• PA-19-092: NIH Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Program (Parent R21 Basic Experimental Studies with Humans Required)
• PA-19-053: NIH Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Program (Parent R21 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
• PA-19-054: NIH Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Program (Parent R21 Clinical Trial Required)

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide and the funding opportunity announcement used for submission must be followed, with the following additions:

• For funding consideration, applicants must include "NOT-DA-20-009" (without quotation marks) in the Agency Routing Identifier field (box 4B) of the SF424 R&R form. Applications without this information in box 4B will not be considered as responding to a NOSI.

Applications nonresponsive to terms of this NOSI will be not be considered for the NOSI initiative.

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries to the contacts in Section VII of the listed funding opportunity announcements with the following additions/substitutions:

Scientific/Research Contact(s)

Susan Wright, PhD
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
Telephone: (301) 402-6683
Email: susan.wright@nih.gov
Peter Hartsock, PhD

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

Telephone: (301) 402-1964
Email: peter.hartsock@nih.gov
Peer Review Contact(s)

Examine your eRA Commons account for review assignment and contact information (information appears two weeks after the submission due date).

Financial/Grants Management Contact(s)

Pamela G. Fleming
National Institute on Drug Abuse
Telephone: (301) 480-1159
Email: pfleming@nida.nih.gov